The Galapagos Marine Park Authority has changed the maximum number of dives per day from 3 to 4 and even 1 night dive per seven week cruise is now allowed. Diving in the Galapagos is always an exceptional experience. With changing water temperatures, the highlights shift:

• June – November: The water is cooler, 16-24C (60-75F); Whale Shark sightings are greater.
• December – May: The water is warmer, clearer 21-30C (70-86F); Larger schools of Hammerhead Sharks, Manta Rays and Eagle Rays.

Check our our dive site Map for Wolf and Darwin Islands

Here a quick overview how the different yachts are adjusting their itineraries to maximise the benefits for you:

Galapagos Sky
Sunday – Sunday
from/to San Cristobal

Galapagos Sky is the leading liveaboard in the Galapagos, owned and managed by diving veteran, Peter Hughes. GS is part of the Diveencounter Alliance which provides you with attractive rewards on the best liveaboards around the world.

Galapagos Sky has announced that they will take advantage of the new regulation by offering a night dive at Wolf Island – offering up to 5 dives at this most amazing dive region. They have 2 days scheduled here and have a much broader variety of dive sites in their programme then any other liveaboard.

During Mar – May 2013, they will visit Cousins Rock, City of Mantas, Cabo Marshall, Punta Vincente Roca, Roca Redondo, and Isla Pinzon (Islote Dumb).

During June, 2013 – Feb., 2014 – they will visit Bartolome, Cousins Rock, Cabo Marshall, Punta Vicente Roca, and Isla Pinzon (Islote Dumb).

They will dive the Isla Pinzon area on our last diving day. Islote Dumb is a tiny rock outcropping off the northeast tip of Isla Pinzon. The dive is packed with the same dynamic diving that they’ve found at Roca Blanca in 2012.

There will be three – four land/sea excursions per trip, and the very populuar Santa Cruz Highlands / Giant Tortoise tour is included in both.

Galapagos Aggressor I & II
Thursday-Thursday
from/to Baltra

The Galapagos Aggressor I (16 pax) & II (14 pax) are sister ships and depart from Baltra every Thursday afternoon.
Starting February 1, 2013, their new itinerary includes Wolf and Darwin, Baltra, Punta Carrion, Bartolome, Cabo Marshall, Cousins Rocks and a brand new addition, Cabo Douglas where guests will have the opportunity to interact with marine iguanas as they feed in the water.
Both boats spend between 2 and 3 days at Wolf and Darwin. Land tours will be at Bartolome and Santa Cruz Highlands.

Current Special:
Save $1000 for departures between February 28 – July 4, 2013

M/V Humboldt Explorer
Monday – Monday
from/to San Cristobal

Humboldt Explorers new permits kick in on 1 April 2013. They have gained the necessary permits to dive up to 4 times a day, including 4 dive days at Wolf & Darwin Islands, plus an additional land tour on North Seymour Island and will be offering a night dive! If Wolf/Darwin is your main goal – Humboldt Explorer is the best choice.

M.Y Darwin Buddy and M.Y Wolf Buddy
Saturday-Saturday
from/to San Cristobal

The two newest additions to the group of quality dive liveaboards are following a similar approach with trying to maximise diving at Wolf and Darwin Islands. Their boats plan 3 dive days at Darwin an Wolf islands.

For more info: info@diversiondivetravel.com.au

Just a short 30 minute drive from Dumaguete airport (a 1 hour flight from Manila), on the island of Negros Oriental, lies the beautiful Atlantis Dumaguete Dive Resort. The resort is surrounded by lush tropical gardens and is just a short boat ride away from some of the most renowned dive sites in Asia – famous Apo Island, Siquijor Island and of course the local Dauin Marine Sanctuaries.

Atlantis Resort Dumaguete features forty guest rooms and suites, all designed with the guests maximum comfort, privacy and relaxation in mind. Besides scuba diving, guests can enjoy a number of services and experiences to make their holiday complete: spa treatments, swimming pool, beach with sun lounges, restaurant and bar, boutique for souvenirs, dedicated camera room for underwater photographers and plenty of land based tour options.

What makes this place so special is the staff. I had only been in the resort for minutes when I was already greeted by staff members calling out my name. The high level of customer service and friendliness of the staff continued throughout our stay and is definitely second to none.

Toko’s Restaurant offers relaxed dining with superb menu choices. Each lunch and dinner, you can enjoy a stunning 3 course menu freshly prepared by dedicated local and international chefs.

We started our diving activities with a couple of sloping reefs, only a few minutes by boat from the resort. Two blue-ringed octopus, flamboyant cuttlefish, cleaning mantis shrimp, lionfish, frogfish and wasp fish, all seen on our first dive, were only a small number of the extraordinary critter and marine life we were to experience over the coming days.

The dive schedule of the resort and also at its sister property, Atlantis Puerto Galera

, offers up to 5 dives per day. Two morning dives are available, followed by either two afternoons and a night dive or one afternoon and a mandarin fish dusk dive. This many dives per day are usually only offered on liveaboards, but rarely at land-based dive resorts. Therefore, this makes the Atlantis Resorts a great option for the hardcore diver as well as diver/non-diver couples.

One of my diving highlights was Apo Island, only a 45 minute boat ride from the resort. It is a small island surrounded by stunning reef walls, drop offs and beautiful coral gardens. We spent two days diving here at different dive sites and only experienced a little bit of current on two dives. Although I very much enjoy wall diving, my favourite time was spent just cruising around 10m and above, spotting critters amongst the coral. Devil scorpion fish, stone fish, sweet lips, frog fish, gobies, trigger fish, parrot fish, surgeon fish, lion fish and plenty of different nudibranchs were all to be found on our dives. I am also pleased to report that the local sea turtle population in the Philippines is very healthy.

After completing our diving activities at Atlantis Dumaguete, we joined the resort’s own fabulous liveaboard, Atlantis Azores, for another three fantastic days of diving. We sampled part of the Bohol itinerary of Atlantis Azores, including the whale sharks at Oslob, at the southern tip of Cebu Island, followed by Sumilon, Cabilao and Balicasag Islands.

Watch a Video

Taking part in Azores’ Bohol itinerary means diving around tranquil islands surrounded by crystal clear waters and pristine white sandy beaches. Dive sites include superb hard and soft corals, stunning reef walls, drop offs, critters such as pygmy and thorny seahorses, frog fish, ghost pipe fish, many different species of nudibranchs, clown fish, parrot fish, pegasus sea moths, blue ribbon eels, schools of jacks and trevally, hawksbill and green turtles and sea snakes. Very occasionally you might also come across reef sharks, sting rays and manta rays, however, we haven’t experienced any on our numerous dives.
Atlantis Azores is a luxury liveaboard offering a high quality of service and standard. It features 8 cabins for a max. of 16 divers, a huge dive deck with camera table, comfortable lounge with flatscreen TV, sun lounges and a jacuzzi on the sun deck.

Azores offers four different itineraries in the Philippines, so there is plenty of diving to be done. Up to 5 dives are offered on each full dive day. The food on board the vessel, freshly prepared by a local chef, is just delicious. There was a continuous flow of food platters coming out of the galley, pleasing all our different taste buds. A brief cup of coffee with cereal or muffin was available before each first dive early in the morning. Following our first dive, a sumptuous hot breakfast was served. Lunch and dinner were delicious 3 course meals with the choice of either meat or fish as main meal.

After 8 days in the Dumaguete region it was time to say goodbye. The Atlantis motto “Arrive as a guest, leave as a friend” pretty much says it all. I am certainly keen to get back to see how everyone is doing!

Truk Lagoon

We asked our newsletter readers this question recently. The right answer is 30 years. Many participants mad an extra effort and added comments, some where quite funny or even informative and we like to share them with you:

• 30 years. got my fingers, toes, legs and arms crossed, makes it really hard to dive like this though

• Whale Sharks need to be about 30 years old to procreate. I am 54 years young today and have been procreating about 30 years.

• They reach maturity at the age of 30 years.  (Wish I was still 30!)

• 30. Please, please, please…..
• 30 !! P.S. does the fact that 30th Jan is my birthday help me win? 
• 30 years. Do they serve eggs benedict at Blue Lagoon Hotel?
• 30 years of age (a bit like human maturity really!!!)
• Please pick me haha
• 30. Happy New Year guys! Great newsletter!
• 30 years. I’ll be saying my prayers every night and crossing all my fingers and toes
• Hi!! I saw this competition and couldn’t resist giving it a go!! I’ve been obsessed with sharks since I was a kid!
• 30 years!!! I want my prize!
• The Newsletter says after they grow 9 metres and are about 30 years old. Other marine biologists with whom I have spoken believe it is possible from 25 years on, or even younger – providing still the 9 metre length requirement! And all this proves is how much we have to learn about these AMAZING creatures!

The answers didn’t influence the outcome, but they brought some smiles on our faces.  Thank you everybody for participating in our competition to win a stay in Truk Lagoon in the beautiful Blue Lagoon Resort. The winner is…..Jodie Lee from Brisbane! Congratulations Jodie.  Jodie won 6 nights twin share accommodation with airport transfer from/to Weno airport/Resort  in

Truk Lagoon’s Blue Lagoon Resort

The Prize is for 2 divers and also  includes 10 dives per person!